Bittersweet Vengeance
by ShutUpAndPaddle
Summary: The team are strung along on a twisted case, revealing a little more about Horatio's lover's past. Warning: Suggestion of underage intimacy and rape, no graphic details included.
1. Chapter 1

**Bittersweet Vengeance **

**Chapter 1**

Horatio stood tall, peering out of a grubby window with one hand on his hip and the other clutching his sunglasses. The distinct smell of mould and dampness got caught in his nose as he focused on a drunk stumbling back to his motel room. He could detect a small hint of a metallic odour in the air from the blood that had oozed out of the victim.

"What have we got?" A familiar cheery voice questioned as the door opened. An involuntary smile appeared across Horatio's face as he turned around to see Zoë entering in a light pink blouse and black trousers. She flashed Horatio a wide, natural smile and then glanced around the room before her eyes set on the middle-aged man who lay on the floor face down before her. Eric entered and stood beside Zoë as she studied the victim with her intense brown eyes.

"We have here Michael Higgs, a 43 year old man, stabbed to death and mutilated." Alexx said as she glanced up at Zoë.

"Pre or post?" Zoë questioned as she pulled on some gloves as Horatio gazed at her, watching her delicate hands pull on the latex gloves with ease.

"I'm unsure honey, but I have a feeling that he was mutilated before his death." Alexx said softly.

"Where's the mutilation? I don't see any?" Zoë questioned, looking at the body, seeing all fingers attached, his face intact and his feet intact – the three areas which are usually chosen when it comes to mutilation.

"Have a look for yourself honey." Alexx said softly as she rolled the deceased man onto his back. Zoë's eyes settled on a large blood stain in the man's crotch area.

"He's been–" Zoë began but stopped herself as she looked down at the blood stain.

"Yes, his other part was left in the bin." Alexx said softly as Eric turned around and got a look himself. Both Alexx and Horatio watched the colour drain from Zoë's face as she swallowed.

"Honey, are you okay?" Alexx questioned and Zoë slowly nodded, unable to take her eyes off the man.

"Horatio, get her out of here and sit her down." Alexx said quickly, looking round to Horatio who'd already begun to make his way over to Zoë.

"Come on sweetheart." Horatio said as he gently turned her around and guided her out. Eric looked at Alexx as Alexx looked at him. They both took a long intake of the musky damp air and got on with their jobs.

Horatio sat Zoë on one of the benches outside of the small motel room and then sat next to her. She pulled her gloves off and dropped them into her pocket.

"Are you okay, Zoë?" Horatio questioned softly and Zoë nodded as she blinked and then closed her eyes as she shook her head. She got up and walked to the end of the path and turned back to Horatio as he followed. She looked down at her hands, she then began to fiddle with her fingers as she bit her lip.

"Sweetheart, talk to me." Horatio said very softly and calmly and she turned to him.

"One night, my father came home in a drunken rage and went for Josh after picking up a kitchen knife." Zoë swallowed as she continued to look down.

"He pushed my brother to the bed and pulled his trousers down as I ran in and took hold of his hand with the knife in, screaming at him. I was so little and he easily pushed me to the bed and leant on my neck next to Josh as we both continued to push his hands away with ours, but our hands were so small compared to his. He knelt on me to keep me down then released my neck as he held Josh firmly down." Zoë said as she swallowed again and glanced up at Horatio and then around to make sure they were alone.

"He went for Josh with the knife and got so close but our mother managed to stop him before he did anything but draw blood from one of Josh's thighs. I later learned that my father had done it as in his drunken state he believed that Freud's theory, the Oedipus complex would manifest itself in Josh and being the possessive man that he was, he felt like he needed to prevent that from happening." Zoë said softly as she looked up at Horatio. Horatio looked at her wide-eyed.

"I'm sorry, Zoë." Horatio said softly as he took hold of one of her hands, breaking the knot she was forming with her fingers.

"I'll have Mr Wolfe come out so you can get back to the lab." Horatio said softly as he raised his other to her face.

"No, it's okay, it's just seeing that brought back those memories, I'm fine. I'll get over it, it never happened to him. It's just the memories haunt me a little, but it's nothing I can't handle." She said softly as she gave him a reassuring smile.

"Are you sure?" Horatio questioned. "I can easily get Mr Wolfe out. " Horatio added.

"I'm really okay, there's no need for that." She said softly and Horatio gave her a nod.

"If you change your mind and you want to go back to the lab, just let me know, okay?" Horatio asked as he tucked some hair behind her ear.

"I will, thank you Horatio." She said with a soft, natural smile, feeling her memories float away as she looked up into his eyes.

"Let's get back in there and catch our killer." Zoë said with her usual bounce. Horatio gave her a nod and then watched her walk away and over to the room and disappear in. He quickly followed her and stood in the door way as Alexx looked up at Zoë.

"Everything okay, baby?" Alexx questioned.

"Yes, everything's good, I just skipped breakfast this morning." Zoë said with her fresh smile as she pulled another pair of gloves on.

"Honey, you skip breakfast every morning…" Alexx said with a raised eyebrow and Zoë chuckled a little.

"I do not skip breakfast every morning." Zoë scoffed with a smile. Her smile put Alexx right back at ease and she gave Zoë a small nod with her I-know-you-do face. Eric smiled at Zoë once he caught a glimpse of her infectious grin and got back to processing.

"Did he have any family?" Zoë questioned.

"Yes, he had a wife and 3 children." Alexx said as she picked up his wallet and held it out for Zoë to take. Zoë took it and looked at the family portrait.

"We'll have to notify the wife." Zoë said as she bagged the wallet and then got back to looking at the room. Zoë bent down and picked up a silver necklace and studied it with her torch.

"I've got some blood on this necklace." She said as she studied it intensely.

"Perhaps he had a mistress?" Zoë questioned as she glanced down at him.

"It's a possibility." Eric said as Horatio walked over and looked at the necklace as he stood just behind Zoë.

"It looks like it was pulled from the neck." Horatio said, noticing the blood on the chain.

"Yeah, the chain itself is broken, indicating that it was pulled from the woman's neck." Zoë said glancing back at him. Horatio nodded and let Zoë bag the evidence as she carried on with her job. Horatio strolled out and met with Frank to talk to him as Zoë looked over at Eric.

"Do you know why Natalia quit?" She questioned, curiously.

"Not really, she said she was quitting for personal reasons." Eric said as he glanced back at her and Zoë nodded.

"Yeah, I heard that but I was just wondering if you knew anything more." She said softly.

"Sorry, I don't." Eric said as he looked back to the chest of draws.

"She is okay though, isn't she?" Zoë asked, slightly worried about her.

"Yeah, she never said anything was wrong or gave the impression that something wasn't right." Eric said and Zoë nodded at him.

"I've got a blonde hair." Zoë said as she picked it up off the pillow with tweezers as she looked at the hair with the torch.

"Looks like our mistress is becoming more of a certainty, the wife has brown hair." Zoë said softly as she bagged it. Both Alexx and Eric looked at her and nodded.

"The wife may have caught on to what he was doing and took things into her own hands?" Eric suggested and Zoë nodded at him.

"It's a definite possibility." Zoë agreed as she picked up some more hair off the pillow, this time, brown and short, like the victims. She bagged it and turned around to place the bags down when she started looking at the bedside cabinet when Horatio walked back through.

"Hey do you want to check the bed for any signs of sexual intercourse and semen?" Eric questioned and Zoë looked back at him. Both Horatio and Eric saw her jaw clench as she visibly tensed.

'_I don't think I've ever seen Zoë process a bed…'_ Eric thought to himself.

"Yeah… sure" she said as she stood up. She glanced at Horatio and he saw the terror in her eyes and could see that she didn't want to do it. She looked back down at the bed and picked up the specialised light and put a pair of goggles on. She scanned the duvet and then pulled it back and scanned the sheet.

Horatio saw her tense more as she looked at a point in the middle of the bed, she looked away and sharply inhaled as she turned the torch off.

"Zoë, go and get some water, you're looking a little pale again." Horatio said softly and she nodded as she quickly pulled the goggles off and put them away with the torch and walked out as Alexx and Eric turned around to look at her making a swift exit.

"Is she okay, Horatio?" Alexx questioned.

"Yeah, I think she just needs something to eat." Horatio said softly.

"You know, she should be eating something in the morning." Alexx said softly.

"She usually has some fruit." Horatio said softly and walked over to her kit and picked up her goggles and torch and processed the bed himself.

"There has definitely been sexual activity." Horatio said as he bagged the evidence and Zoë appeared back at the door.

"Sorry." She said softly.

"Feeling better?" Horatio questioned and she nodded at him with another fresh smile. She walked over to Horatio and mouthed 'thank you' at him and he gave her a nod.

"I'm going to get back to the lab, ring when you're done." Horatio said softly and Zoë nodded at him.

"We won't be long anyway." Zoë said softly and Horatio nodded at her as Alexx got the body out. Horatio made an exit and she gave Eric a smile as she turned around and began processing.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Back at the lab, Zoë was reading the profiles on the hairs found in the bed as she walked through the lab, over to Eric with her head buried in the paper as she looked at the DNA profile of the semen stain that was found in the bed. Horatio walked in as she approached Eric, she glanced up at him and gave him a smile. She reached the table he was at and put the papers down and looked up at him.

"The short brown hair I found in the bed is not a match to our victim and there is no match to the blonde." Zoë said softly as Horatio picked up the sheets of paper and read them for himself.

"Who is it a match to?" Eric questioned.

"A man named Spencer Docksey" Horatio said, looking up at him.

"He works at the local high school" Zoë said softly.

"What about the semen?" Eric questioned and Zoë looked down as she rubbed her neck then looked up at Horatio. She moved closer to him and took hold of his jacket at the back. He could see her tense and he saw the fear in her eyes once again.

"It's also a match to Spencer" Horatio said softly and Eric nodded as Zoë moved away and over to the computer.

"The blood found on the necklace isn't a match to the hair you found." Horatio said softly and Zoë nodded.

"Spencer was done for a DUI… otherwise a perfect record." Zoë said softly as she looked over to Horatio and Eric as they both nodded at her.

"Go and pick him up." Horatio said as he put the paper back down and walked out. Zoë gave Eric a smile and they walked out and collected the man from the high school. Horatio walked into the interrogation room with Eric and looked down at the slim man with brown hair and green eyes.

"Mr Docksey, do you care to explain how your semen was found in the bed of this motel by our murder victim?" Eric questioned as Horatio stood and studied the slim man as he looked down at the pictures Eric placed in front of him.

"I don't know what you're talking about, I don't know." He said calmly as he looked up to Horatio, then to Eric.

"Well, it didn't just magically appear." Eric commented.

"I've never been to that motel in my life." He pleaded as he leant on the table.

"Then how do you explain the semen found and how it matches you?" Eric questioned as Horatio continued to study him.

"I don't know, I wish I could tell you." He said softly as he sat back.

"Do you know who this belongs to?" Eric asked as he showed him a picture of a long blonde strand of hair."

"Sorry, I don't know." He said as he shook his head.

"Look, why am I here? Even if I did somehow end up in that motel, sleeping with someone isn't a crime, I was out last night with friends, I suppose I could have ended up there." He said as he shook his head.

"Where were you at 7.30 this morning?" Horatio questioned.

"I was at work, preparing my lessons." He said softly.

"Can anyone confirm?" Horatio questioned.

"Yeah, only the whole of the staff room" he said, lowering his eyebrows, confused.

"We'll do that." Horatio said as he walked out and Eric nodded as he walked out after Horatio. Eric walked over to Zoë as she turned around.

"I've just rang the motel and confirmed that housekeeping hadn't been around and didn't have time to clean the room after last night, they have no record of Mr Higgs, he didn't rent that room." She said, looking at him intensely.

"So the man we have in there could have no connection to this case at all? If housekeeping hadn't have come round, they wouldn't have changed the sheets." Eric said and Zoë nodded at him.

"We've still got to rule him out as a suspect though." Zoë said softly and Eric nodded. Eric watched Zoë fall into her thoughts.

"There was 3 students in his GCSE class with blonde hair… one of which had long, straight blonde hair…" Zoë said as she bit her lip.

"You don't think–" Eric began and Zoë nodded.

"Yeah, I do… he seemed to look over at her a few times. She definitely had a thing for him." Zoë said as she turned around and picked something up.

"Come on, we're going back and getting a DNA sample off this girl." She said as she began to walk out.

"We can't do that, we have no cause and it has nothing to do with this case." Eric said softly.

"It does if her hair was found at the crime scene." Zoë said as she walked out and phoned Horatio to update him. Eric followed her out and they later arrived back at the school and called in the young blonde girls parents and explained to them why they wanted a sample of her DNA.

"No, you're not taking her DNA! She was in all night last night." Her father argued.

"Well then let us take her DNA so we can prove she wasn't there." Zoë asked softly and her father thought.

"If it will get you off her case then yeah, go ahead." Her father grumbled and the 15 year old turned around and gawped at him.

"But Dad…" She moaned and both Eric and Zoë raised an eyebrow.

"Just do it honey, they'll leave you alone if you give them what they want." He grumbled.

"Open up." Zoë said softly as she held a swab and then got a swab as she opened her mouth and crossed her arms.

"Thank you." Zoë said with a small smile, already knowing from her reaction that she had something to hide.

"You can either come down to MDPD and wait for the results or we'll call if anything comes up." Zoë said and the mother and father stood.

"Thank you, but we'll be heading home." The father said and the 3 of them quickly walked away.

"Well, I think you have to agree that she was hiding something…" Zoë said as she turned to Eric.

"I never doubted your instinct, I just was a little shocked…" Eric smiled at her and Zoë nodded.

They got back to the lab and ran the test as a tall, middle-aged woman walked into the lab.

"Excuse me, but where could I find Lieutenant Caine?" The woman asked softly as she placed her hand on Zoë's shoulder.

"I'll take you to his office." Zoë said softly as she handed Eric the evidence and gave him a smile.

"May I ask who you are?" Zoë questioned softly.

"Maria Higgs" she replied softly and Zoë nodded at her.

"Do you know what this is about?" She asked Zoë and Zoë looked up at her softly.

"I'm sorry, I can't disclose that information at this point in time, Lieutenant Caine will explain everything though." Zoë said softly as Maria nodded at her. They walked over to Horatio's office and Zoë knocked, then entered.

"Maria Higgs is here to see you" she said softly and Horatio nodded as he put his pen down.

"If you'd like to go in" Zoë said as she glanced back at Maria and Maria nodded at her.

"Zoë, did you get what you needed?" Horatio questioned.

"Yes, we're running it now, I'll let you know." Zoë replied with a sweet smile. Horatio gave her a nod and Zoë then left. She walked into the lab where Eric was working and flashed him a smile.

"Mrs Higgs is here." She mumbled a little as she pulled her lab coat on and walked over to Eric and began to help him process the evidence they had collected. '_Mrs Higgs doesn't look like she could have done that to her husband, she's not strong enough and she seemed genuinely confused as to why she was here…' _ Zoë thought to herself and then pulled her phone out when it beeped at her.

"The swab from the 15 year old is done." Zoë said as she snapped her gloves off and hung her lab coat up as Eric nodded at her. She walked out, only to reappear again, 2 minutes later.

"The hair is a match to the 15 year old." Zoë said as she looked up at Eric. Eric exhaled and snapped his gloves off and walked out with Zoë. They walked into the interrogation room.

"We know you've been sleeping with one of your students, DNA has just confirmed it." Zoë snapped, disgusted with him.

"What?!" The man asked as he stood up, squaring up to Zoë.

"Sit down, please." Eric said forcefully and the man sat down.

"You're going to be charged with rape and sexual abuse of a minor." Zoë said as she held her strong stance.

"It was only once!" He muttered, clearly annoyed and angry.

"That once is enough to charge you with this. She is 15 years old!" Zoë growled at him.

"She's mature for her age, she knew what she was getting into, I love her." Spencer argued.

"You took advantage of her, you took advantage of your power and status." Zoë growled at him.

"You can't do this to me." He growled.

"Yes we can, she was underage. You're going to be taken for booking now." Zoë said as she gave the officers a nod and watched them approach the man and pick him up.

"How can people be so delusional?" She questioned.

"Your guess is as good as mine." Eric said softly, seeing Zoë annoyed and taking a step back.

"Do you want to tell the parents, or shall I?" Zoë questioned.

"I'll do it, don't worry. Get back onto the case." Eric said softly and Zoë nodded at him.

'_This case is twisted, what else is it going to throw at us?'_ Zoë questioned herself as she walked back through into the lab.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"I promise you that we'll find his killer, Mrs Higgs." Horatio said as he left his office with her and the teary-eyed woman nodded at him.

Zoë walked out of the lab and over to Horatio just as he parted from Maria.

"The girl was found to be a match to the hair I found, Spencer has been booked. I've also just ran the necklace to see if I can track it down to where and when it was brought and by who, and I've got a match, Jack Porterman, he lives at this address." Zoë said and Horatio nodded.

"Let's go and give Jack a visit then." Horatio said and Zoë nodded. Maria watched them walk out together and then sat down.

Horatio and Zoë stood side-by-side on the porch of Jack Porterman's house.

"MDPD, open up" Horatio called loudly as he knocked again. The door opened and an average height, average man answered the door to Horatio and Zoë.

"Jack Porterman?" Zoë questioned.

"Yes, who are you?" He questioned as he stood in his boarder shorts and tank-top.

"Lieutenant Horatio Caine and Zoë Chambers from the CSI crime lab. We'd like to ask you a few questions." Horatio said as they both flashed their badges.

"Go ahead." The young man said as he leant against his door.

"Do you recognise this?" Zoë asked as she held out a photo of the necklace.

"Yes, I brought that for my ex-girlfriend." He said as he scratched his eyebrow.

"Can you give us her name and address?" Horatio questioned.

"Sophie Baker, she lives at this address." He said as he wrote an address down and handed it to Horatio.

"Thank you sir" Zoë said as both Horatio and Zoë turned around and walked back to the hummer.

"Is it me, or does it feel like this case is stringing us along?" Zoë exhaled as she climbed into the hummer with Horatio.

"I get the same feeling." Horatio mumbled as they clicked their seatbelts into place and pulled off.

They pulled up outside the address and got out and approached the house.

"Miami-Dade police, open up." Horatio called as he knocked and the door opened and stood before them was a young woman, in her early 20's with long, wavy blonde hair and blue eyes.

"Sophie Baker?" Zoë questioned.

"Yes, how may I help you?" She asked quietly as she looked down at the floor.

"We'd like to know if this is your necklace?" Zoë questioned as she held the picture out.

"No, I'm sorry I can't help you." She said as she looked back down at the floor. They questioned her a little more, about the motel and where she was, but she denied everything.

"May I ask as to how you cut your neck?" Zoë questioned, seeing the healing graze on her neck.

"I caught it with my straighteners." She defended and Zoë raised an eyebrow.

"I'm sorry ma'am, but straighteners don't cause wounds like that, it looks like someone pulled a necklace from your neck." Zoë argued and the woman looked at her, beginning to panic.

'_There's no way she overpowered our vic.'_ Both Horatio and Zoë thought to themselves when a large man came to the door with blonde hair and blue eyes.

"Hi, I'm Ben, Sophie's brother. Can I help you?" He questioned, loudly.

"Yes, where were you this morning?" Horatio questioned, seeing a cut on his hand.

"I was working." He replied as Sophie stepped back.

"Where do you work?" Zoë questioned and he laid his eyes on her.

"I work from home, I run my own business." He said as he stood straight.

"Can anyone confirm that you were here?" Horatio questioned.

"No, I work on my own." Ben claimed. Zoë studied his black eye.

"Where did you get your black eye?" She questioned as she looked up at him, looking unconvinced.

"I was involved in a bar-fight." He claimed as he laid his eyes on her again.

"Do you recognise this man?" Horatio questioned as he took one of the photos from Zoë's hands and held it up in front of Ben and Sophie. Sophie swallowed while Ben shook his head.

"Do you recognise him Sophie?" Zoë questioned.

"No, sorry" she said quietly.

"Do you mind if we come in to look around?" Horatio questioned and Ben stepped back.

"Be my guest, we've not done anything." He grumbled as Horatio and Zoë entered.

They walked through to the kitchen and Zoë pulled a few knives from a cupboard while Horatio glanced around.

"I've got dried blood here." Zoë said as she walked over to Horatio. Horatio eyed Ben up as he placed his hands on his hips.

"Do you care to explain?" Horatio questioned.

"I was cutting meat this morning." Ben argued while Zoë took a swab to check if the blood was human.

"It is human blood." Zoë said as she got a quick picture of it and placed it in a bag, safely. Ben swallowed as he looked down.

"We're going to take a trip down to MDPD." Horatio mumbled.

"What? Why?" Ben questioned.

"Because we've just found a bloody knife" Zoë said.

"Come on, both of you." Zoë said and they walked out with Zoë on their tail.

"Stay here, Sophie." Ben said as he walked out.

"No, she's coming with us too." Zoë said softly and Sophie nodded at her and then walked out with them. They were put into separate patrol cars while Horatio and Zoë drove off. Back at the lab, Zoë got onto processing the knife immediately as Eric walked in and she updated him. Eric helped her out when the results started to print.

"It's a match to our victim." Zoë said as she picked the results up and then walked out after slinging her lab coat onto the rack. She found Horatio and updated him. They walked into the interrogation room where both brother and sister were being held.

"The blood we found on the knife from your kitchen is a match to our victims." Zoë pressed immediately as she leant on the desk. Sophie swallowed as she looked at Ben.

"Look, Sophie has nothing to do with that guys death, I am." Ben growled.

"Then tell us why?" Zoë pressed.

"I'll tell you if Sophie can go free." He mumbled as he sat back and crossed his arms when Zoë's phone rang. She answered and then hung up.

"Well, it looks like that will be the case since we've found your prints all over the knife." Zoë mumbled as she looked at Ben.

"Ben, don't." Sophie pleaded as the officers walked over and placed their hands on her arms.

"Just go, Sophie." Ben said and she got up.

"If you'd wait outside, please." Horatio said as he fiddled with his sunglasses. She eventually went out and both Zoë and Horatio's eyes landed back on to Ben.

"Look, I killed the guy, I tracked him down and pushed him into this motel room." Ben exhaled as he shook his head.

"Why?" Horatio questioned.

"Isn't it obvious?" Ben spat at them, looking up.

"No, it isn't, so if you'd care to enlighten us, we'd appreciate it." Zoë said as she crossed her arms.

"A few days ago… Sophie was raped, she came home crying and absolutely distraught, I found out who did it and he was called Michael Higgs… as I said, I tracked him down. I made sure that he'd never be able to do it ever again, to any other woman. Then I completely lost it, I'm going to admit it, I lost it and I stabbed him. I watched him bleed but not even that made me feel much better, it was almost bittersweet. What he did to my sister was disgraceful, he deserved what he got and more. How anyone could do that to a young woman is beyond me." He spat as he glared up at Zoë and Horatio.

"She didn't want to come forward to the police, so I took it into my hands." He murmured.

"I know you're both engaged, you'd do the exact same if anything like that was to happen to her. Don't deny it." Ben growled at Horatio.

"Yes, but I wouldn't get caught." Horatio quietly growled back at him as he leant on the table.

"How did her necklace get into the motel room if Sophie wasn't there?" Zoë questioned as she gently pulled Horatio back.

"He ripped it from her neck the night he raped her and she came back with it in her hands. I took it with me to remind him of her, of what he did to her. I must have dropped it while I stabbed him." Ben grumbled. Zoë nodded.

"That's all." She said as she looked up at the officers and they walked over and cuffed him and then walked him out. Zoë turned to Horatio and she swallowed.

"Would you really do that, Horatio?" She questioned, looking up at him.

"Zoë, I'd do anything to protect you." Horatio said softly.

"But, that wouldn't be protecting me, that would be you getting your revenge. Protecting me would mean preventing it from happening." She said, lowering her eyebrows.

"I would do everything in my power to prevent it from happening. I think it would take immense self-restraint to not kill the man, but I'd certainly lose it with him. Why are we talking about this? I don't want to even think about something like that." Horatio questioned as he stepped closer.

"Because, I don't think you could kill a man for something like that. You'd rather see justice served to him in a long prison sentence." Zoë said softly.

"Perhaps you're right, but the situation will never come around because it will never have the chance, so we can end this conversation." Horatio said softly and Zoë studied his face a little and then nodded. They walked out together and into his office so Horatio could pick up a few things. Zoë watched him walk around his desk gracefully and she couldn't help but smile. He looked back at her and his smile grew as he walked back to her.

"Home?" She questioned.

"Home" Horatio said softly as she leant in and placed a delicate kiss on his lips with a brilliant smile.

The End

**Thank you all for reading, next story is called Adrenaline Rush, will hopefully be up today at some point later. **


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